Bit for horses



y 1934- .1. B. FREYSINGER 1,956,861

BIT FOR HORSES Filed Aug. 17, 1931 gwventoz John B. Freysizzyer Patented May 1, 1934 T rice BET FGR HQRSES Application August 17,

2 Claims.

This invention relates to bits, and has particular application to riding bits of the sort having a mouthpiece covered with a moldable material, such as hard rubber, so that cross bite is avoided 5 and the bit is easier on the mouth of the horse.

The aim of the invention is to provide an im proved bit of this sort having a mouthpiece provided with a metal eye or ball at each end in which the checks are mounted, and a shank covered with hard rubber or the like, the balls being given a finish in contrastto the rubber in order to lend beauty to the product.

A further aim of the invention is to provide an improved construction wherein the joints between the balls and the hard rubber covering are not opened or in any way disturbed when the eyes are closed about the stems of the cheeks.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a bit of this character which may be economically manufactured and is an article of high quality with a very pleasing appearance.

Another aim of the invention is to provide an improved method by means of which a bit having the above and other objects and advantages may be economically manufactured.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein I have shown, for illustrative purposes, one embodiment which the present invention may take:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the complete Fig. 2 is an elevational View of the metal portion of the mouthpiece, one of the eyes thereof being shown as closed about the stem of the cheek;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken longitudinally and centrally through the left hand end of the mouthpiece shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional View taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 8 but showing the eye closed and finished.

Referring to the drawing in detail, A denotes the cheeks carried by the opposite ends of the mouthpiece. These cheeks may be of any suitable construction, those shown in the drawing being of the double ring pattern. This showing is by way of illustration only. The mouthpiece is composed 1931, Serial No. 557,443

of an integral metal member, designated generally by the letter B, and a covering C of nonmetal material, such as hard rubber. The metal member B is preferably cast and has a shank 10 with a ball 11 at each end thereof, the balls be- Gi ing generally round in cross section in substantially any plane therethrough. The diameter of the balls is larger than that of the shank 10, and, at the juncture between the shank and each ball, is a circumferential shoulder 12. The rubber covering 0 is molded about the shank l0 and its ends are in close contact with the shoulders 12 so as to give tight joints therebetween. The external surface of the covering C merges gradually and without abrupt break into the surfaces of the balls, as illustrated most clearly in Figs. 3 and 5. Each of the balls is in the form of an eye which initially is in the open condition shown in the left hand end of Fig. 2.

After the rubber has been molded onto the metal piece B and a check is positioned in the open eye, the eye is closed, as shown in the right hand end of Fig. 2. Each eye is split at one side so that the line of juncture in each eye is slightly spaced from, but is somewhat adjacent to, the end of the shank 10. At the open edges of the eye are initially formed slight outstanding fianges or webs 13 which, during the closing operation, are brought together and then these webs are peened and then ground off so 35 as to give a clean, practically invisible joint. During the operation of closing the eyes, there is a tendency for the metal of the ball to pull away from the end of the rubber covering at a point marked 14. In order to avoid this, the wall of the long arm of the eye is tapered down in thickness towards its free end, as most clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4. By preference, during the forming of the eyes, a groove is cored therein so that the wall of the eye is generally U-shaped in cross section, as shown most clearly in Fig. 4. The side portions 15 of the wall also taper down in thickness so that the long arm of the eye is of progressively less cross sectional area as it progresses away from the shank towards its free end.

The method followed in the manufacture of my improved bit consists, generally, in casting a metal piece B with both eyes in the condition shown in Fig. 3. Then the rubber covering is molded about the shank 10, the ends of the covering forming a close union with the heads or eyes 11 at the shoulders 12. The stems of the cheek pieces are inserted in the open eyes, and then these eyes are brought to the closed posi- 1'10 tion shown in Fig. 2, the free ends of the arms of the eyes being brought closely together. Then, by means of a suitable tool, the contacting flanges 13 are peened, as indicated at 1'7, and then these peened webs are removed by grinding or the like so that the ball will have a smooth surface throughout. Then the eyes are given a nice finish and, preferably, they are silver or chromium plated so as to give a surface in sharp contrast to the black rubber covering. By following this procedure, the balls 11 from all appearances are unbroken, the line of juncture being practically invisible. By tapering the long arm of the eye, as previously described, the metal of the ball at the base thereof is not pulled away from the end of the rubber covering.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made Without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim as my invention:

1. A mouthpiece for bits comprising a metal member having a shank with a ball at each end, there being a circumferential shoulder where each ball joins the shank, and a non-metallic covering molded about said shank and having its ends closely engaging said shoulders, each of said balls being in the form of a split eye adapted to be closed about the stem of a cheek, each of said eyes having a long arm tapering down in thickness towards its free end.

2. A mouthpiece for bits comprising a metal member having a shank with a ball at each end, there being a circumferential shoulder where each ball joins the shank, and a non-metallic covering molded about said shank and having its ends closely engaging said shoulders, each of said balls being in the form of a split eye adapted to be closed about the stem of a cheek, each of said eyes having a long arm tapering down in thickness towards its free end and having a groove therein to provide a substantially U-shaped wall the side portions of which taper down in thickness towards their free ends.

JOHN B. FREYSINGER. 

